TUESDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTERTIDE - 2024

DAILY HOLY MASS READINGS

The Son of Man must be lifted up
so that everyone who believes in him
may have eternal life. JN 3:15

ACTS 4:32-37 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

We must return to the unity and the generosity that was so palpable in the nascent Church if we are to grow in the love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. How far, her hierarchy and many of her members have strayed from the path laid out for her by the Apostles, and the early disciples.

One has only to look at the Church in our own parishes, dioceses, in the wider world, and even the Mother Church and we can see why so many of her members are either lapsed Catholics or have fallen completely away from the Vine. The greatest mistake of all is the Church seeking to be relevant in the current culture steeped in hedonism and selfishness. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life apart from You we can do nothing. We are one Body in You, O Lord, we receive the Life of the Spirit from You. The love of the Spirit holds us together in You making us one with You and children of the Father. 

We are called to be one with You and with each other. We are called to empty ourselves for the good of our neighbor just as You did. Unless we, like the first Christians, are united heart and soul, and place no value on earthly possession, or acclaim, or power, but live to serve one another we can never testify to the power of the resurrection as they did drawing many to believe and be saved.

We are scared to give, to have open hearts and hands, instead, we want to grab everything and hoard. We would rather see things rot than give freely because we are afraid if we give today we will not have enough for ourselves tomorrow. But who has seen tomorrow? Instead, we are called to be like the lilies of the field and the birds in the air - trusting the Father to provide all we need for as long as we need it.

Grant the Church and her members the faith that the Apostles and the early Church had, Lord, faith that moves mountains and brings the whole world to a knowledge of You and salvation to all who believe.

PSALM 92(93):1-2,5 ©

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed;
the Lord has robed himself with might,
he has girded himself with power.

The world you made firm, not to be moved;
your throne has stood firm from of old.
From all eternity, O Lord, you are.

Truly your decrees are to be trusted.
Holiness is fitting to your house,
O Lord, until the end of time.

The Lord is king, with majesty enrobed.

JOHN 3:7-15 ©

My Soul's Beloved,

One can only imagine the awe and inner excitement Nicodemus experienced when he came to You at night. He stood at the threshold of something new yet ancient, something that he hardly dared to believe and could barely understand. Yet he would have known in some measure in his spirit that something was unfolding that the world since creation was waiting for.

Nicodemus lacked courage. His spirit knew that You, O Lord, were the Messiah that Israel was waiting for but his position as a respected member of the Sanhedrin, his status among the people, and his possessions prevented him from embracing the Truth he perceived in his heart. 

He longed to believe but lacked the magnanimity of spirit to give all up for the pearl of great price.

All that You said to Nicodemus was familiar to him as it was all foretold in Scripture but he lacked the courage to accept that You were the fulfillment of all the prophecies.

What about us, Lord? We are baptized, formed in the faith, and we receive the Sacraments often, but we are ill-formed, we have not cared to grow in our knowledge of the faith and the teachings of Holy Mother Church. We are tepid and our fervor brightens and dims according to our feelings. The Holy Spirit is dormant within us because we have constrained His ability to act in us and give our faith wings.

We are selfish, stingy, hoarders of God's riches. Crippled by fear we are afraid to proclaim the Good News of God's love because of the consequences that we could face. We lack the courage of saints and martyrs because we have a wishy-washy faith. What You said to Nicodemus You say to me as well:

‘If you do not believe me when I speak about things in this world,
how are you going to believe me when I speak to you about heavenly things?
No one has gone up to heaven
except the one who came down from heaven,
the Son of Man who is in heaven;
and the Son of Man must be lifted up
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert,
so that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.’

Through the power of Your Holy Spirit, my Beloved, grant Your Church and all baptized Christians the kind of faith that will set the whole world on fire with the love of God. Amen.